This list of University of Florida honorary degree recipients includes notable persons who have been recognized by the University of Florida for outstanding achievements in their fields that reflect the ideals and uphold the purposes of the university, and to whom the university faculty has voted to award honorary degrees in recognition of such attainments. Often, but not always, the honorary degree recipients have been alumni of the university, or have had ties to either the university or the state of Florida.
The University of Florida awarded its first honorary degree in 1909 to Andrew Sledd, in recognition of his four years of service as the founding president of the modern University of Florida. The first woman to whom the university awarded an honorary degree was Florida author and novelist Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in 1941.
Andrew W. Sledd became the first president of the modern University of Florida following the consolidation of Florida's state institutions of higher education by the Buckman Act in 1905, and served from 1905 to 1909. He was an ordained Methodist minister and a noted Greek, Latin and biblical scholar. Sledd subsequently served as the president of Southern University (1910–14), and the first Professor of New Testament Literature at Emory University's Candler School of Theology (1914–39).[1]
Peter Henry Rolfs was the dean of the University of Florida College of Agriculture and the director of its Experiment Station. Rolfs later served as the director of a state college in Brazil.
P.K. Yonge was the president of Southern States Lumber Company of Pensacola. In his role as a long-time member and chairman of the Florida Board of Control (1910–17 and 1922–32), Yonge was responsible for guiding the consolidation, early growth and evolution of the University of Florida.
Nathan P. Bryan was the chairman of the Florida Board of Control, a U.S. Senator from Florida from 1911 to 1917, and a U.S. District Court judge in New Orleans. As chairman of the Board of Control, Bryan helped guide the consolidation and early growth of the University of the State of Florida.
William Jennings Bryan was a prominent statesman, lawyer, Presbyterian churchman and lecturer. Bryan was a two-term U.S. Representative from Nebraska, the Democratic Party nominee for U.S. President in 1896, 1900 and 1908, and the first U.S. Secretary of State in Woodrow Wilson's administration from 1913 to 1915. As a lawyer and special prosecutor, he also represented the State of Tennessee in the Scopes Trial in 1925. Bryan was a personal friend of university president Albert A. Murphree, and as a supporter of the university, he chaired the campaign to raise funds for the construction of the Florida Union.
Scott Loftin was a prominent Florida attorney who was the fifty-eighth president of the American Bar Association, and served as the chairman of the University Endowment Corporation of the University of Florida.
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings was a well-known novelist, author of The Yearling, and winner of the O. Henry Memorial Prize and the Pulitzer Prize. She often wrote on Florida-related topics. Rawlings was the first woman to receive an honorary degree from the University of Florida.
Raymond Robins was a social and civic leader, World War I U.S. Army officer, lecturer and world traveler. Degree conferred at his home in sanctuary at Chinsegut Hill, Florida, which he gave to the U.S. government in June 1941. His was the first University of Florida honorary degree conferred off campus.
Albert H. Blanding was a U.S. Army brigadier general in France from 1918 to 1919, and was later the chief of the U.S. National Guard Bureau from 1936 to 1940. He was also a member of the Florida Board of Control 1922 to 1936. Blanding graduated from Florida Agricultural College with a Bachelor of Science degree (B.S.) in 1894.
Thomas Barbour was a naturalist, teacher, author, world traveler, and director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. He had an interest in Florida's wildlife and natural history, and presented the University of Florida with the famous terrestrial Miocene vertebrate locality in Gilchrist County, Florida.
James Melton was a prominent actor, artist and singer, and frequently appeared with the Metropolitan Opera Association. Melton attended the University of Florida from 1921 to 1923.
James Bryan Whitfield was the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, serving on the court for thirty-nine years—the longest tenure in the history of the court.[2] The honorary degree was conferred in Tallahassee.[3]
William K. Jackson was the prosecuting attorney and U.S. Attorney for the Panama Canal Zone, and later served as the president of U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Jackson graduated from the University of Florida at Lake City with a bachelor of science degree (B.S.) in 1904.
Owen D. Young was a lawyer, banker, corporate director, economist and humanitarian. Young was the recipient of honorary degrees from twenty-four different colleges and universities.
Wilson Popenoe was a scholar, horticulturist, and ambassador of good will from the United States to Latin America for nearly forty years. Popenoe served as the director of Escuela Agricola Panamericana at Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Thomas J. Watson was a business executive and industrial leader who served as the president of International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) from 1919 to 1951, building IBM into one of the major American corporate manufacturers.
Boyd Henry Bode was an internationally renowned philosopher, educator, constructive critic and author who was a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Illinois, and a professor of education at Ohio State University. Bode emphasized the vital contribution of public education and publicly supported schools should to the success of democratic government.
Hannah was the former president of Michigan State College (now Michigan State University), and an internationally known agricultural specialist, distinguished educator, and statesman. He was formerly the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Personnel.
Professor of law and president of State University of Iowa (now known as the University of Iowa). Attorney, educator, administrator, humanitarian. Member of many learned societies.
Florida's twenty-eighth governor. Legislator, statesman, student of international affairs, tireless worker for higher educational standards in the South. Contributor to civic betterment, national safety.
LL.B., University of Florida, 1916. First president of combined university student body. First native son to serve as Governor and U.S. Senator. Well known for contributions to law, education, finance and public works.
John J. Tigert was the third president of the University of Florida (1928–47). He was previously president of Kentucky Wesleyan College, a professor of philosophy and psychology, athletic director, and head basketball and football coach at the University of Kentucky, and U.S. Commissioner of Education (1921–28). Tigert served longer than any other University of Florida president, and in his nineteen years as president, "Big John" was responsible for numerous academic, athletic and administrative reforms. Tigert was also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.[5]
Federal judge for the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York; later, appellate judge of the United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. Well-known educator and jurist
William A. Shands was a native son of Florida, legislative leader, statesman, churchman, and farmer. Shands was an eighteen-year member of the Florida Senate, and served as the senate president in 1949. He was a forceful advocate for the state's creation of the University of Florida Health Science Center.
LL.B., University of Florida, 1938. George Smathers was a U.S. Representative from 1947 to 1951, and a U.S. Senator from Florida from 1951 to 1969. Smathers was recognized as one of the U.S. Congress' experts on Latin American affairs. Later, Smathers made a $20 million contribution to the endowment of the university's libraries.
James E. Webb served as the second Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), from 1961 to 1968, during the critical years of the U.S. manned spaceflight program . Webb was a lawyer, industrialist, educator, administrator, and leader in space sciences.
President, Rockefeller Foundation. Taught at University of Puerto Rico, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and Washington State College. Received Certificate for Meritorious Leadership in Agriculture from UF, 1950.
J. Wayne Reitz was the fifth president of the University of Florida, serving for twelve years from 1955 to 1967. Reitz oversaw the peaceful integration of the university, and the expansion of its student body and physical plant during a period of rapid growth.
Edith Bristol Tigert was the wife of former University of Florida President John J. Tigert, and served as first lady of the University of Florida for nineteen years from 1928 to 1947.[5]
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) senior manager, held such positions as the Director of Spacecraft and Flight Missions, NASA Deputy Director in Houston, Texas, and Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office.
Nell Critzer Miller was the wife of J. Hillis Miller, Sr., the fourth president of the University of Florida, and served as the university's first lady for six years from 1947 to 1953. She was also an English teacher, the assistant director for the Wesley Foundation, and the head of the Office of Patient Services at the J. Hillis Miller Health Science Center.
Contributor to the field of mathematics and has served as a consultant and panel member for the U.S. Government. Director of the Mathematics Research Center of the U.S. Army at Madison.
Red Barber was a noted author, lecturer and radio sports broadcaster. Barber attended the University of Florida from 1929 1931, and worked as announcer for Florida Gators football games while he was an undergraduate.
LeRoy Collins was the thirty-third governor of Florida, serving from 1955 to 1961, and was later appointed as U.S. Under-Secretary of Commerce by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson.
Lifetime Chancellor of Tel Aviv University. Outstanding educator, businessman and humanitarian. President, George S. Wise and Co., newsprint manufacturing of Miami.
Ambassador-at-Large and Special Representative of the U.S. President to the Law of the Sea Conference. Former U.S. Ambassador to the Court of St. James and served in four cabinet posts—Secretary of Commerce; U.S. Attorney General; Secretary of Defense; Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.
A psychologist, teacher, writer, researcher and poet, she is internationally recognized by psychologists and psychiatrists for her contributions to the understanding of personality.
1953 UF Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient; U.S. Representative from the 8th District of Florida from 1952 to 1967; Administrator of the Rural Community Development Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Chairman of A.C. Allyn and Co. and Director Emeritus of the Allyn Museum of Entomology. in Sarasota, Florida. Former President of the Chicago White Sox. Former partner of Francis I. dePont and Co.
Former science advisor to U.S. President, director of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology, president of Exxon Research and Engineering Co. One of the nation's strongest advocates for improving engineering and scientific education.
J.D., University of Florida, 1956. Former governor of Florida. U.S. Served in Florida House of Representatives and Florida Senate. Appointed U.S. Trade Representative U.S. President Jimmy Carter.
B.A. and M.A., University of Florida. Historian, political scientist, writer, consultant and University of Florida Distinguished Service Professor. Wrote a classic in early American history and political theory, established the guidelines for reapportionment in Florida and other states, and taught more than 15,000 students during his fifty-year teaching career.
Leader in the arts, sciences, sports, industry and government. Co-producer of first color films, including such classics as A Star is Born and Gone With The Wind. Established the C.V. Whitney Laboratory for Experimental Marine Biology and Medicine at the University of Florida, located in St. Augustine, Florida. Founded Pan American Airways and the Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting Company.
Built one of the best newspapers, The Miami Herald, and helped establish one of the largest newspaper groups in the nation, The Knight-Ridder Newspapers. He has served twice as President of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association.
Businessman who was prime mover in historic preservation, restoration and reconstruction of St. Augustine. Since 1965, trustee of the Historic St. Augustine Preservation Board.
World religious leader, civil rights activist, and a crusader in the modern ecumenical movement for Christian unity. Head of the Greek Orthodox Church of North and South America for twenty-seven years. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Carter in 1980.
A noted research economist for more than forty years. She has made major contributions to economics in monetary economics and economic history. She has co-authored several internationally prominent publications on monetary standards with Nobel Laureate Milton Friedman.
A pioneer in women's studies and former ambassador. She has held the highest position of any women ever in the United Nations. Research, writer, lecturer and advisor at the University of West Indies.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas was a conservationist with a career spanning seventy years. She has given the State of Florida the groundwork for preserving, protecting, and recovering its natural resources. She received many honors and awards for her efforts in conservation.
President emeritus of the Southern Research Institute. His research has had a worldwide impact on the treatment of cancer. His research has resulted in approximately 200 publications.
Alumnus, House Representative for Florida and U.S. At 29, he was the youngest Democrat in Congress. National president of UF's Alumni Association and chair of UF's D.C. area Regional Capital Campaign.
Served in U.S. Congress for forty-four years; set an all-time record by not missing a single legislative vote for forty-one years. Author of seven books on Florida history. Decorated five times for combat service in World War II.
Military leader of U.S. and coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, General Schwarzkopf was recognized for his environmental and humanitarian work, especially with seriously ill children.
Virgil D. Hawkins was a civil rights activist who sought to integrate the University of Florida by seeking admission to the College of Law in the 1950s. Hawkins was the recipient of the University of Florida's second posthumous honorary degree.
George Andrews is one of the most important and influential mathematicians of his generation. He is one of the world's leading authorities on the Theory of Partitions and the work of the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan.
Jeffrey Spieler
2002 D.P.S.
Jeffrey Spieler is a recognized leader in the fight for improving the health and the quality of life of vulnerable populations throughout the world. He is known for his advocacy for reproductive health, family planning and the development of better contraceptive choices.
Howard T. Odum was a University of Florida graduate research professor emeritus, and the founder of the university's Center for Environmental Policy. Odum was a pioneering authority in the field of ecosystem ecology.
Samuel Proctor was a Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Florida and director of the University of Florida Oral History Project. Proctor was recognized as one of the "50 Distinguished Floridians of the 20th Century" and a national pioneer in the field of oral history. He co-authored a history of the university entitled Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida (1987).
William Francis Whitman, Jr. was a horticulturist who prospected for unusual tropical fruits around the world, and popularized them in the United States. Whitman was an alumnus of the University of Florida.
Bob Graham is a former Florida governor and U.S. Senator (1986–2004). Graham helped to create the Bob Graham Centers at University of Florida and the University of Miami which focus on policy studies on public leadership, the Americas and homeland security.
Bo Diddley was an original and influential American rock-and-roll singer, guitarist and songwriter. Although the honorary degree was confirmed by the university before his death on June 2, 2008, the degree was awarded posthumously. Diddley's is only the third posthumous honorary degree awarded by the University of Florida.
Key to degree abbreviations
Honorary degrees
D.C.L. – Doctor of Civil Law
D.D. – Doctor of Divinity
D.F.A. – Doctor of Fine Arts
D.H.L. – Doctor of Humane Letters
D.Litt. – Doctor of Letters
D.P.A. – Doctor of Public Administration
D.P.S. – Doctor of Public Service
D.Sc. – Doctor of Science
L.H.D. – Doctor of Humane Letters
LL.D. – Doctor of Laws
Mus.D. – Doctor of Music
Earned degrees
B.A. – Bachelor of Arts
B.S. – Bachelor of Science
J.D. – Juris Doctor (professional law degree; replaced LL.B.)
LL.B. – Bachelor of Laws (former law degree; superseded by J.D.)
M.A. – Master of Arts
M.S. – Master of Science
Ph.D. – Doctor of Philosophy (terminal graduate research degree in most disciplines)
Pleasants, Julian M., Gator Tales: An Oral History of the University of Florida, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (2006). ISBN0-8130-3054-4
Proctor, Samuel, & Wright Langley, Gator History: A Pictorial History of the University of Florida, South Star Publishing Company, Gainesville, Florida (1986). ISBN0-938637-00-2.
Van Ness, Carl, & Kevin McCarthy, Honoring the Past, Shaping the Future: The University of Florida, 1853–2003, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida (2003).